Pump for gasolene-gas machines.



Patented-o t. 19, I899.

m. 634,612] E. J. CRAWFORD PUMP FUR GASULENE GAS MACHINES. I A fimmn filed. 1121320, 1898.) (No Model.) 7

TH: non!!! PETERS o0. PHTD-L\THO.. WASNIN'ITON. u. :4

UNITED STATES PAT NT Ormcn.

I ERNEST J. CRAWFORD, OF- CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA.

PUMP For: GASOLENE-GAS MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,612, dated October 10, 1899.

- Application filed May 20, 1898. semi No. 681,181. on model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, ERNEST J. CRAWFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Campbell, county of Santa Clara, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Gasolen'e-Gas Machines; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus which is especially designed for the manufacture of gasolene or hydrocarbon gas, the apparatus being so constructed that it may be used as a portable or stationary machine. 7

My invention consists, essentially, in the connection of a generator, an air-pumping mechanism, a gasometer, and a novel intermediate mechanism whereby the air-pu mpin g device is automatically actuated to supply air, and a means for regulating the supply of air through the generator or partially through the generator and to the gasometer.

It also comprises details of construction, which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which the figure is a general view of my apparatus.

A is the gasometer-tank, and B the gas-' ometer, of any usual or suitable construction adapted to rise and fall in the tank as the;

supply of gas increases or decreases.

. O ,is the gas-generator, of which I have shown an exterior view only, the interior be ing provided with any of. the well-known devices for passing air through or over a. body of light hydrocarbon, by which the air becomes mixed or saturated withthe hydrocarbon vapor in sufiicient quantity to become an illuminating-gas, and from this generator the gas thus produced passesdth rough the pipes D to the gasometer. The pipe E admits air into the generator and is provided with a cock c, by which the amount supplied to the generator may be regulated.

' F is a pipe extending fromthe pipe E to the pipeD and having in it a cock f, by which the flow through this pipe may beregulated.

Thus if itis desired to send a whole volume of air through the generator the cock f will be closed and the cock e will be opened; but if-it is desired to send only a portion of the air through the generator and the remainder of it directly to the gasometer, as where the gas is too. rich, the cock 6 will be partially 'tion H byodirect movement closed and the cock f proportionately opened. The body of air would then be divided and a portion (depending upon the openings of the valves) would pass through the generator,

while the remainder would pass directly to the gasometer and the richness of the gas can thus be regulated at any time.

which passes through pipe E is prevented from returning by a check-valve G.

The supply for the apparatus is produced by a pump which consists of an open bottom and closed top cylinder H,for1ned with double walls, as shown. These double walls fit upon each side of asimilarly-shaped diaphragm I, which projects upwardly from the bottom of a tank J, containing water, this tank being filled to a pointnear the top.

An inlet-pipe K opens into the tank and interior of the part H above the water-line and has an inwardly-opening valve L, through which air is admitted into the part H when the latter is raised, because by raising this part a vacuum is produced above the surface of the water, which causes the air to rush, in through the pipe K, and when the part H is again forced downward in its tank J the valve L will be closed and the air will beforcedont through the pipe E and the check-valve G, previously described.

,In my invention I actuate the pump, por

tions, and this is effected by a piston M reciprocating in a pressure-cylinder N and having a piston-rod m extending through the top of the pressure-cylinder N and connecting 'with the top of the reciprocating chamber H, which forms the pump. the plunger M, I have shown the pipes O and In order to actuate 0', one connecting with the top and the other with the bottom of the pressure-cylinder N, and a means for alternately supplying waterpressure above and below the piston to reciprocate it.

The water-pressure is supplied in anysuitable manner. I have here shown it as arriving through a pipe P, which maybe connected with some suiiiciently high source of supply to give the necessary head. This pipe has a valve in it at P, and; the valve has a lever P the end of which is connected by a cord, chain, or other suitable connection P The weight P is also with the gasometer B.

in both direc- The gas connected with the end of the lover, a the operation will then be as follows: \Vhen the gasometer sinks by reason of the exhaustion of the gas, the cord P will be relaxed and the weight P willact to pull down on the lever P thus opening the valve at P to allow the water-supply to pass in for the purpose of actuating the pump. As the pump operates and the amount of gas increases the gasometer 13 will rise and will gradually close the valve P by its action upon the lever P through the cord P In order to alternately supply the water to the pressure-cylinder N for the purpose of actuating the piston M and the air-pump, I have shown connections from the pipe P, by which the water may be diverted alternately into the pipe 0 and the pipe 0. At the same time the opposite side of the piston M is connected with the waste or discharge passage, so as to allow it to reciprocate. These connections consist,

essentially, of th ree-way cocks or valves. In

the present case I have shown two three-way cocks Q Q situated in a pipe R, which is connected with the pipe P directly through one of the valves and through a branch pipe R by' means of the other valve. These valves have lever-arms S connecting with them, and the lever-armsare united by a rod or bar T, so as to move in unison. One of the arms S extends so as to be connected with a verticallyreciprocating rod U, the lower end of which is connected with a plunger in a cylinder V. The upper end of the rod is suitably guided and has upon it aweight IV sufficient to move it downward when released from pressure from below, so that when the rod is moved up the valves Q Q will'be turned to admit the flow of water through one and close it from the other, and when moved downwardly the How will be reversed. In order to produce these movements, I have shown a threeway cook a in a pipe I), which connects with the main supply-pipe P. Upon one side this cock connects through a pipe 0 with the bottom of the cylinder V, so that when water is admitted into this cylinder the plunger therein will be moved up by the pressure, and with it the plunger-rod U, and this carries the lever-arms S, and thus changes the valves Q and Q. When the valve 0 is turned in the other direction, it closes the inlet-passage Z) and opens a passage through the wastepipe 01 to allowthe water to escape through the cylinder V, and when this is done the weight IV will act to again shift the valves Q Q.

The operation of the valve to is effected by means of a lever a, which has connected with it a rod g, and this rod extends up through a guide It, projecting from the side of the pumping-chamber H. Lugs or buttons 2' are fixed by set-screws at any desired position apart upon the rod g, so that when the arm h strikes either of these buttons it will move the rod 9 and, acting through the lever-arm ct, will operate the valve a to change the direction .of the water within the pipes b c d.

The operation will then be as follows: Vater being under pressure in the pipes I b 0, when the air-pumping chamber 11 is at its lowest point it will strike the lowermost of the lugs 2' and will operate the lever a, so as to turn the valve or cock (1, and water Will pass from the pipe I) through this valve into the pipe 0, thence into the cylinder V, Where it will act to force the plunger upward, and by the connection between the plunger-rod U and the levers S it will turn the valves Q Q, so that water will pass through the valve Q, thence through the pipe 0 to the lower part 'of the pressure-cylinder N, and will thus force the piston M upward. The lowermost valve Q will be so connected with the pipe 0 that water from above the piston or plunger M passing out through the pipe 0 through the valve Q will enter the branch escape-pipe cl and pass out through the pipe cl. NVhen the air-forcing chamber H has reached the point where the arm 7t engages the uppermost of the lugs ion the rod g, the lever-arm a will be moved in the opposite direction and the valve a will be turned so as to cut off the water-pressure below the piston in the cylinder V and at the same time will open passage between the pipe 0 and the waste-pipe cl, so that the water within the cylinder may escape. The weight W then acts to force the rod U and its plunger down again and with sufficient pressure to move the valve-actuating levers S and to change the position of the valves Q Q, so that water will be admitted through the pipe 0 to the pressure-cylinder N above the piston M, and will thus force this plunger down by direct pressure. This change in the valve opens communication through the valve Q and the pipe cl with the escape of waste-pipe (2, so that the water beneath the piston M will be allowed to escape. By these alternate reciprocations the air-forcing chamber H is moved in each direction by direct pressure, and its operation is thus made automatic and continuous, not depending upon gravitation for its downward movement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and-desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An apparatus of the character described comprising the combination of an air-pumping mechanism including a double-walled tank and a double-walled cylinder open at its bottom and closed at its top, with the walls of the cylinder embracing the inner Wall of the tank, an air-inlet pipe within the cylinder and having an upwardly-opening valve which admits air as the cylinder rises and cuts off the fiow of air as the cylinderdescends, a hydraulic motor vertically disposed within the double-Walled cylinder and having a stemand-piston connection therewith, an air-pipe leading from the interior of the double-walled cylinder, a water-supply pipe, branch pipes leading from the water-supply pipe to points above and below said piston, valves in said IIO branch pipes and levers connected with the stems of said valves, a supplemental cylinder and a plunger-rod extending from the same and havingone of the valve-levers connected therewith whereby the valves are operated in unison, a waste-pipe and a valve controlling the same, and a rod connected with the lastnamed valve and operated by the rising and falling of the double-walled cylinder.

2. The combination of a water-supply and valves controlling the same, and an air-pumping mechanism consisting of a tank having double walls forming a water-space, an openbottom cylinder within said tank and having double walls adapted to straddle the inner wall of the tank, a vertically-disposed cylin der interior to the double-walled cylinder and connected at its upper and lower portions with the water-supply, a piston within said cylinder and having a stem or rod connected with the double-walled cylinder, and an airpipe connecting with the interior of the tank.

3. In a'gasolene-gas machine, an air-pumping device comprising a watercontaining tank, an open-bottomed double-walled chamber, dipping into the water-tank, an interior wall to said tank extending between the double walls of the upper chamber, acting as a guide therefor, an air-pipe opening into the chamber above the surface of the water having-a cheek-valve therein, a cylinder centrally located withinthe air-pumping chamber having a piston movable therein, a rod connecting it with the top oi the air-forcing chamber whereby the two are movable in unison, water-pipes connecting the top and bottom of said cylinder, exterior valves by which the water is alternately led above and below the piston, a supplemental vertical cylinder exterior to the pumping mechanism, having a plunger movable therein, the plunger-rod of which connects with the valves of the main cylinder, to change the course of the water alternately by the movement of the valves, a supply-pipe through which water is admitted below the plunger of the supplemental cylinder, a valve by which the water is alternately admitted and allowed to escape therefrom, a series of pipes connecting the main supply-pipe with the main and supplemental cylinders through which the water is diverted by the actioncof the valves, a lever connecting with the valve of the supplemental cylinder, a rod connecting the said lever extending upward by the side of the air-forcing cylinder and having adjustable lugs or stops thereon, and an arm fixed upon the pumping-chamber H adapted to engage the lugs upon the rod to open and close the supplemental cylinder-valve.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. 7

ERNEST 'J. CRAWFORD. Witnesses:

S. H. Nounsn, JESSIE O. Bnonin. 

